A Crafting Day

Yesterday I spent several hours in the studio making greeting cards. I've agreed to do a market next Sunday. It's at Sussex Neighbourhood House,11 am -3 pm. I'd love to see you there if you have a chance to drop in. I love the concept: the various art and craft teachers and other artisans associated with the house are putting it on. A percentage of proceeds will be donated to the house, but it's also a great chance to get to know each other and our community better. Of course when I agreed to participate the concept was the thing and the event was weeks away. Now all of a sudden it's next week and I need to make sure I'm ready. As for the greeting cards, I realised that most of the things I have for sale are probably at the top end of what people might spend in this sort of setting. By the time I design, spin, dye and then knit, crochet or weave my creations I've made a considerable investment. That's fine and I'm happy with what I do. But for a community market I need to pitch some of my sales to a smaller outlay. Enter the greeting card. Also the bookmark and the badge. Small, affordable treasures of craft.

After several hours of choosing, cutting, gluing, stamping and stitching I switched my focus to a serious bout of weeding. Doing battle with the Kikuyu grass has almost a mythical quality, though the dirt and sweat are real enough. I ran out of steam at about the same time as the day ran out of light.

I was surprised to find I had the energy for a bit more creativity after tea. Heading out to the studio for supplies felt like too much effort. I raided the kids' craft box for some basic materials. One of the assignments for our Drawing class is to make a textile piece based on drawings of "luscious fruit". Hence the various reference to produce of different kinds in my blog lately. Last night I focussed on some sweet chilli peppers. The process of dissecting and drawing reminded me of zoology and anatomy classes at Uni, but the images and smells were much more palatable!

Today looks like being a lot like yesterday. I'm going to focus on bookmarks first. Then more gardening and general tidying up. I will have to make a trip to the shops to top up my supplies.